SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
Freshman Bongomin Otii scored the only goal of the
match early in the second half and senior goalkeeper Kyle Reynish made it
stand up as No. 9 UC Santa Barbara blanked No. 21 San Diego State 1-0
Saturday night.

For more than 55 minutes the visiting Aztecs (2-1) played dead-even with the host Gauchos (2-1), but in the 56th minute an outstanding individual effort by junior defender Andy Iro led to the matches only goal.

Pushing up from his defensive position along the left sideline, Iro took a
pass from freshman David Walker just over the midfield stripe. He veered to
his right, carrying the ball inside the left portion of the penalty box
where he beat a San Diego State defender, cut right and flicked a pass
across the goal box to a slashing Otii. The freshman forward slid in and
poked a shot into the right portion of the goal, past a diving Tally Hall at
the 55:52 mark. The score was Otii's third of the season.

Much of the contest was played between the goal boxes as the teams combined
for just 21 total shots, 11 of which were on goal. UCSB had 11 shots, six on
goal, while the Aztecs had 10 shots, five on goal. Hall, an All-American,
and Reynish each had five saves.

The shutout was the second on the season for Reynish and the Gauchos.

"We played a really tough team tonight," said UCSB head coach Tim Vom Steeg,
who watched from the press box as he served a one-game suspension after
being ejected from the Gauchos' last contest, a 1-0 loss at Virginia. "I
don't think we played as well as were are capable, but it was good to win
our home opener. This is a match we can build on."

The Gauchos return to the pitch Tuesday, September 5 when they open Big West
Conference play against their Central Coast rival Cal Poly. Tuesday's match,
originally scheduled for Wednesday and moved up a day due to a scheduling
mix-up, will start at 7:00 p.m. in Harder Stadium.